howdy-do
howdy-do is the alternative form of how-d'ye-do.
howdy-do is the pronunciation spelling of how do you do.
Meaning of how-d'ye-do
Noun
how-d'ye-do (plural how-d'ye-dos)
- A troublesome state of affairs.
- Her abrupt departure from the wedding ceremony was a fine how-d'ye-do.
Meaning of how do you do
Phrase
how do you do?
- A greeting used upon being introduced to someone. Alternatives are how are you, pleased to meet you, and nice to meet you. (Sometimes used as a rhetorical question among familiar parties, depending on the region).
- ‘How do you do!’ said the Minister. ‘I’m very well, indeed! how’s yourself?’1911, ‘Steel Rudd’, The Book of Dan, Brisbane: University of Queensland Press, published 1970, page 37
Forms of howdy-do
| plural | howdy-dos |
|---|
Questions about howdy-do
- What is howdy-do the alternative form of?
- Howdy-do is the alternative form of how-d'ye-do.
Words near howdy-do in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: howdy-do (page history and authors); how-d'ye-do (page history and authors); how do you do (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “howdy-do.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/howdy-do. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.